A Sleeping King
by bibliosaurus-rex
Summary: I wrote an 800 word drabble about Gansey being dead and some feels/thoughts on Stiefvater's symbols. Angst. Set toward the end of The Raven King. Glue. Pynch?


In that moment, there were two things that Gansey feared. The first was that he was, in fact, Blue's true love; the second that he was not, in fact, Blue's true love.

If he was Blue's true love, this kiss would kill him. This kiss, standing where Cabeswater should be with reality about to crumble around them, would be his last memory. And he would die. Gansey had done a lot of not dying these past years, and he wasn't particularly ready to break that streak. He wasn't particularly ready to leave his friends.

Noah had been the first one to save him; the Ley Line's trade had switched their fates. Gansey should be the ghost and Noah should be the boy. But Noah was dead and Gansey had a life to give up. Noah had been the reason he lived the first time, but Ronan and then Adam had been the reasons he carried on living. Loving. Inexplicably tied to these people's lives, wanting to protect and guide them. Letting them protect and guide him. Joined in his search for Glendower and joined in something stronger, more integral. Something electric and primal and _magic._ He'd lived because of Noah, he'd lived because of Ronan, he'd lived because of Adam.

Blue was the reason he was going to die.

If he was not Blue's true love, this kiss would not kill him. This kiss, standing where Cabeswater should be with reality about to crumble around them, would be just a kiss. His only kiss with Blue Sargeant.

And then he still needed to die. He wondered how they could do it, with Ronan choking on his own dreams and Adam tied in the back seat. A tire iron perhaps? If they could find a hornet or bee, it would be easy. Painful, but easy. Ironic, but an end.

Either way Blue would be a killer.

Either way he was going to die.

Either way, he was going to kiss Blue Sargeant. He was going to press his lips on hers and feel her softness against his and run his hand through her hair. He could still do that.

He straightened his shirt. If he was going to die, he wanted to look presentable. He ran a hand through his hair. If he was going to kiss Blue, he wanted to look presentable.

When he kissed her, time slowed down. He felt the pads of her fingers brush his rough chin. He felt the way she pressed against him. He felt the smooth gentleness of her lips. For a second, he felt nothing at all.

For a wonderful, fearful fraction of a second, he thought it hadn't worked. That he could kiss Blue again. That he had to find another way to die. But even as he thought it, he knew he was wrong. He felt something falling away, and the beginning and end of his life all at once. He thought about Blue, and Ronan, and Adam, and Noah, and Henry. He thought about the puzzle piece that was Gansey, and how nicely it fitted with the other ones. Would they find a new piece that shape?

He thought about how this was his first kiss.

And as instantly as all of this occurred to him, he buckled. Blue tried to hold him, but he fell onto the road, sprawled out in all different directions. His hand brushed the bright grass on the side of the road, where later Blue would plant a mint shrub. His foot touched the tire of the car, and the dark rubber scuffed his shoe. His skull broke as he fell, and he was crowned with blood. The black tarmac gave him wings. The rain gave him jewels.

His court stood around him, Ronan gasping from the thing in his dreams, Blue gasping from the kiss, Henry gasping from the violence of the fall, Adam gasping from the fact that Richard Gansey III was lying dead at his feet.

There are lots of qualities that make a king. Loyalty from your subjects, a quick mind, power and skill, a giving heart, a crown.

Gansey had many of these things.

Being a king also requires sacrifice. Sometimes it's an everyday sacrifice in ruling a kingdom.

Sometimes it's one huge act that saves your people but not yourself. Like fulfilling a prophecy and sacrificing your life to kill a demon and restore Cabeswater.

Sacrifice. That was what made Gansey a king.

When you wake a dormant king, you are given a wish. You should choose wisely what you use the wish for, as you will only get one. You could wish for eternal life, or endless riches, or power unimaginable.

Gansey's death killed the demon. His sacrifice woke a king.

His wish was life.


End file.
